me and purple (Touch Twin challenge TTC03)

If you've been hanging out here with me for a while, I'm sure you know my feelings about purple.

We don't play nicely together.

Perhaps, because my school colors were purple and gold. . .from 3rd-12th grade.  In high school, I embraced my purple panther pride, and even decorated a Christmas tree ALL in purple.  I wore a purple letter jacket, and painted a purple paw print on my cheek for every football game.

But now. . . me and purple?  Not so much.

And the girls on my design teams KNOW THIS.  They know this, and we joke about it.  

"PLEASE", I'll say, "PLEASE don't make me work with purple!"

So a few weeks ago, I got a box in the mail with some free product, for being published in the August issue of CARDS Magazine . . .a whole package of SEI patterned paper. And of course PURPLE was one of the main colors!

And when I won those two Touch Twin markers, last month. . . . (you know where I'm going here, don't you?)

What color was one of them?

Yes, of course it was.

PURPLE.

But, I love these markers so much, that I was willing to make PURPLE work for me.  (And I decided to dive in and use that SEI paper too!)

This week's challenge (TTC03) on the Touch Twin challenge blog is to create a card with florals.  I used my purple Touch Twin, and also a green water based Tombow marker for the leaves on my flower

Now I know this is sort of a weak excuse for a FLORAL card. . . .but the fact that I used PURPLE should make up for it, I'd say.  

And flowers are flowers, no matter how small.

If you'd like to join in, visit the Touch Twin Challenge Blog for the whole scoop on the challenge! 

(But if you win the 12 markers, you and I are NOT friends anymore! giggle giggle!)

(card goodies: patterned paper - SEI, flower stamp - Close To My Heart, sentiment - The {Stamps} of Life, ribbon - Offray, purple marker - Touch Twin by Shinhan, green marker - Tomnbow)

March first means CAKE!!!

I am so excited to finally be able to share the new stamp set being released at The {Stamps} of Life today!!! It's CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! And adorable cake, too! I love this set. I have had so much fun coming up with different ways to embellish these cakes. I have a whole list of ways I still want to decorate them! Here are two cards to help you start drooling over this set!

On this first card, I used SEI's "With All My Heart" patterned papers. They have a shimmer to them, which makes the cake look extra fancy in real life :) I stamped the cake layers on the BACK of my patterned paper, so that I wouldn't have any lines showing. I thought they would be distracting for the look I was going for. I love the way it turned out!

On the second card, I used blue cardstock and a scalloped strip from SEI's new Corrine collection. I popped the cake up on foam tape for some added dimension and added a few little pearls and ribbon to the card to finish it off.

These two cakes are very "wedding-y" (Yes, it's a word. I say so.) But the great thing about this stamp set, is that this could VERY easily be a birthday cake, done in bright crazy colors, or a big fat chocolate cake done in gorgeous shades of brown. I know I always say, "The possibilities are endless," but seriously people - they ARE.

And really, the only important thing about this stamp set, and the number one reason you NEED it. . . .it's CAKE.

Enough said.

So go get it.

(And if I haven't convinced you, go watch Stephanie's video, on the TSOL blog!)

;)

(card goodies: stamps - The {Stamps} of Life, patterned paper, blue cardstock - SEI, pink ribbon - Papertrey Ink, white ribbon -JoAnn Essentials, white and pink cardstocks - Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White, Iced Pink Prismatic) ink, pearls - Close To My Heart)

Warm fuzzies!

Happy weekend! I intended to be an especially good blogger this past week, coordinating with my week-long visit as Guest Blogger at SEI . . . .but instead of being an especially good blogger - I was an especially TERRIBLE blogger here! I had bunches of cards, but not much I could share this week.

It was worth it though - I was tickled PINK to get an email from Paper Crafts yesterday, requesting FIVE of my cards for their Stamp It! Cards issue, coming out in July. That is totally a record - I've never had that many cards picked up for one magazine! I was completely floored!

Last night I was reading through the comments on the SEI blog. If you go leave a comment on my Friday post, you'll be entered to win some fabulous goodies from SEI - some of the same new product I shared in my posts this week. The comments have all been so sweet, and left me feeling warm and fuzzy last night as I went to sleep. {So if you are one of those comments, thank you, from the bottom of my heart!!!! You made my day!}

This card features Close To My Heart stamps, that will be released as a May Stamp of the Month, along with My Mind's Eye patterned paper, and my favorite kraft cardstock from Discount Cardstock. The scalloped strip is new from Close To My Heart, it comes in a package with different patterns. They are really quite cool. And here's an amusing fact - they are self adhesive . . .but I didn't realize it, so mine is carefully glued down with adhesive! Silly me! ;)

Have a wonderful weekend. Thank you again to each of you for stopping by here, and for visiting with me at SEI {it was such an honor to be over there!} I'm going to go grab some breakfast, and watch my littlest man stack Duplo Legos! XOXO

Hey there cupcake!!!

Hey there cute cupcakes! How's your weekend going? We have spent a good part of the weekend in Mr. B's room - decluttering, rearranging, and purging (on the sly, of course!) It looks pretty good in there . . .and I'm sure it won't last through the weekend!

I posted this card on my mom's Close To My Heart blog a few months ago, but I don't think I ever shared it here. It's getting so close to Valentine's Day, I thought it was fine time for a CUPCAKE CARD! (with less calories than the real thing!)

All CTMH goodies on this baby, (except the twine and the button!) I used the stamp set, Cupcake Sprinkles, paired with Twitterpated paper I also used the sweet little frame stamp (one of my new favorites!) from the set, Priceless Love. I added some Chocolate ribbon, (and the twine and button are from Discount Cardstock!!)

Hey - speaking of Discount Cardstock. Are you a fan of Discount Cardstock, on Facebook? Check this out:

"Want to win a FREE Posh Paper Kit?? Invite your friends to become a fan of Discount Cardstock. Have them leave a comment on the wall that you referred them. The one with the most referrals will win a free January Posh Paper kit and one of those who you referred will win a great embellishment pack. The contest will run until Wednesday morning at 8am"

(But don't say that I referred you, because I'm a design team member!!!)

Okay, one last thing to share for the day. (Well, maybe two.) Here's what I'm cooking for dinner tonight. Paying tribute to my Greek heritage, and attempting for the first time. . .spanakopita. Just came from the store and got everything I needed. Phyllo dough, please be my friend today!!! Only problem is that I just realized I forgot the parsley. Hmmm.

I must admit, I rocked the coupons quite nicely today. I spent $31.04, and saved $46.54 and here are some of the highlights: 6 cans of Rotel tomatoes, 3 chunks of Kraft cheese, 4 bags of Kraft shredded cheese, 2 containers of feta, 2 cream cheese, 2 sour cream (it was a big dairy day today!) 2 boxes of Nabisco crackers, milk, 2 jars of salsa. . .and a bunch of other stuff. I really got even a better deal, because I had a gift card with $5 left on it, so I only spent $26 out of pocket! SWEET!!!!

Have a great day today, and be sure to come visit me at the SEI blog tomorrow! I'll be there blogging all week! XOXO